February  8,  li,00. 
115 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
Recent  Weatber  In  Xiondon, — Towards  the  end  of  last  week 
we  had  a  change  in  the  weather,  which  brought  on  Friday  night  and 
■Saturday  morning  a  very  heavy  fall  of  snow.  With  a  cessation  of 
the  fall  a  thaw  set  in,  and  continued  gradually  until  Tuesday  night. 
It  was  very  slow,  and  accompanied  by  bitterly  cold  winds  on  almost 
every  day.  The  sun  shone  for  a  brief  period  on  Tuesday.  There 
was  a  sharp  frost  on  Wednesday  morning,  which  continued  to  the 
moment  of  going  to  press. 
Weather  In  the  Iforth. — February  brought  a  change  to  more 
seasonable  weather.  There  has  been  a  succession  of  clear  sunny  days, 
with  occasionally  a  slight  overclouding  and  a  light  snow  shower. 
Frost  has  been  continuous  since  the  1st,  11°  being  registered  on  the 
2nd  and  13°  on  Monday,  which  day  was  bright  and  clear  throughout) 
with  every  appearance  of  continued  frost. — B.  D.,  S.  Perthshire. 
Royal  Horticultural  Society, — The  next  meeting  of  the  Royal 
Horticultural  Society  will  take  place  in  the  Drill  Hall,  James  Street, 
Westminster,  on  Tuesday,  February  13th.  The  various  Committees 
will  assemble  at  noon  as  usual,  and  at  three  o’clock  the  annual  general 
meeting  of  the  Society  will  be  held  at  the  Society’s  offices,  117, 
Victoria  Street,  Westminster,  S.W.  The  Council  of  the  R.H.S.  at  its 
^ast  meeting  unanimously  requested  the  President,  Sir  Trevor  Lawrence, 
Part.,  to  allow  himself  to  be  appointed  to  the  vacant  Victoria  Medal  of 
Honour 
Cross-Fertilisation  of  Cereals.  — On  Monday  afternoon  a  meeting 
of  the  members  of  the  Farmers’  Club  was  held  at  the  Club,  Salisbury 
Hotel,  E.C.,  when  Mr.  Gaiton,  the  well-known  authority  on  the  cross¬ 
fertilisation  of  farm  plants,  gave  an  interesting  address  on  scientific 
plant  breeding.  Mr.  Gaiton  said  that  it  had  been  proved  conclusively 
that  there  was  no  cross-fertilisation  in  Nature,  but  by  artificial  methods 
English  farmers  would  be  able  to  grow  better  crops.  Experiments  in 
breeding  had  been  carried  on  on  an  extensive  scale  at  Newton-le- 
Willows,  and  was  largely  assisted  by  the  late  Earl  Winchilsea.  The 
result  of  their  researches  had  been  offered  to  the  Government  in  order 
to  assist  agriculture,  but  the  only  reply  that  had  been  received  was  to 
the  effect  that  there  was  no  department  capable  of  developing  the 
experiment,  nor  any  funds  to  assist  the  movement. 
Too  Early  Seed  Sowing.— The  time  is  rapidly  approaching  when 
the  attention  of  growers  will  be  turned  to  the  sowing  of  both  flower 
and  vegetable  seeds  for  transplanting  later  in  the  open.  Many  who  are 
anxious  to  begin  will  do  well  to  carefully  consider  the  concluding 
paragraph  of  the  article  on  page  44,  referring  to  these  operations.  It 
may  not  be  necessary  to  tell  practical  gardeners  when  to  sow  their 
flower  seeds,  bnt  even  they  sometimes  err  on  the  side  of  too  early 
sowing,  and  it  is  a  too  common  practice  to  sow  the  seeds  of  Asters, 
Stocks,  and  other  half-hardy  annuals  in  strong  heat  in  February,  instead 
of  waiting  a  few  weeks  longer,  when  the  plants  can  go  from  the 
seedling  to  the  flower  stage  without  the  check  that  is  inevitable  when 
they  have  to  be  kept  in  a  confined  root-bound  condition,  brought  about 
in  most  cases  by  the  grower’s  anxiety  to  get  a  little  ahead  of  the 
season.— G. 
Indian  Gardening., — On  more  than  one  occasion  it  has  been 
our  pleasure  to  congratulate  the  Editor  of  this  Indian  periodical,  and 
we  cannot  let  pass  a  further  opportunity.  This  arose  with  the  new 
year,  when  the  conductors  added  another  distinct  section  of  the  paper, 
which  will  be  devoted  to  Tea,  Coffee,  Indigo,  and  economic  products 
generally.  The  departure  has  been  to  a  large  degree  forced  upon  the 
Editor  by  correspondents  seeking  information,  which  could  not 
adequately  be  given  without  encroaching  on  the  space  devoted  to 
horticulture.  Several  pages  have  been  added,  and  they  are  full  of 
interesting  matter.  So  far  as  the  original  section  is  concerned  we 
again  notice  improvement  in  the  paper,  which  now  takes  half  tone 
blocks,  and  brings  the  details  out  admirably.  We  can  only  add,  that 
if  the  new  section  is  as  sound  and  as  interesting  as  the  old,  it  must 
prove  an  unqualified  success. 
Deatb  of  l«r.  Smith,  Sen. — Mr.  B.  D.  Smith  writes  from  Car- 
shalton  : — “  I  have  jusD  lost  my  father,  who  came  to  live  at  Gravesend 
shortly  before  we  left  there,  and  managed  a  small  place  at  Rosherville. 
He  had  an  attack  of  paralysis,  which  necessitated  his  being  in 
the  hospital  for  three  months.  He  died  on  January  26th,  and  was 
buried  at  Gravesend  on  Thursday  last.  He  was  seventy-three  years 
of  age.”  [We  sympathise  with  our  coadjutor  in  his  great  trouble.] 
TJatlve  Guano. — The  Secretary  of  the  Native  Guano  Company, 
Ltd.,  29,  New  Bridge  Street,  Blackfriars,  has  favoured  us  with  a 
66-page  pamphlet  of  testimonials.  These  number  some  hundreds,  and 
have  come  from  all  parts  of  England  and  Wales,  and  must  of  necessity 
represent  many  kinds  of  soils  and  crops.  All,  however,  testify  to  the 
excellence  of  this  plant  food,  which  has  attained  to  very  great  popularity 
since  it  has  been  before  the  public. 
Southern  Counties’  Carnation  Soelety. — The  second  annual 
report  of  this  Society  shows  a  condition  of  affairs  that  must  be 
gratifying  to  all  concerned.  Indeed,  in  the  Committee  s  official  re¬ 
port  we  find  the  following  sentence,  which  conveys  an  excellent  idea 
of  how  matters  stand.  “  Without  invidious  comparison,  your  Committee 
cannot  but  feel  great  satisfaction,  that,  in  the  second  year  of  its 
existence  only,  it  is  second  to  none  in  the  provinces,  and  they  accept 
this  as  a  mark  of  approval  of  the  lines  upon  which  the  Society  is 
carried  out.”  The  schedule  of  the  show  for  this  year  is  also  provided, 
and  comprises  many  classes  with  capital  prizes.  There  are  in  addition 
to  those  items  some  articles  on  Carnations  by  experts.  The  Honorary 
Secretary  is  Mr.  W.  Garton,  jun.,  York  Buildings,  Southampton. 
Isle  of  Wlg-ht.  — On  Thursday  last  a  public  meeting  was  held  in 
the  Newport  Guildhall  with  the  object  of  forming  a  local  Chrysan- 
themum  Society.  Mr.  W.  Morris,  an  old  exhibitor,  presided  over  a 
small  attendance.  After  an  animated  discussion  it  was  resolved,  on 
the  motion  of  Mr.  W.  E.  Wickens,  that  a  Newport  Chrysanthemum 
Society  be  established,  and  that  an  exhibition  be  held  in  November. 
A  Committee  was  afterwards  elected,  with  P.  T.  Mew,  Esq.,  J.P.,  C.C., 
President,  Dr.  M.  T.  Coombes  Treasurer,  and  Mr.  C.  H.  Cave  Secretary. 
On  Saturday  last  the  Isle  of  Wight  Horticultural  Improvement  Associa¬ 
tion  held  its  adjourned  annual  meeting  at  Warburton’s  Hotel,  Newport. 
Dr.  J.  Groves  presided  over  a  good  attendance.  The  members  decided 
to  elect  local  Committees  at  Cowes,  Ryde,  Shanklin,  Ventnor,  Fresh¬ 
water,  and  Newport,  with  seven  members  each.  It  was  decided  to 
amalgamate  with,  the  Ryde  Horticultural  Society  in  the  holding  of  an 
exhibition  of  spring  flowers  at  Ryde  Town  Hall  on  April  19th.  It  was 
resolved  a  fruit  and  honey  show  be  held  at  Newport  in  October  next. 
It  was  also  decided  to  award  the  Association  certificates  to  meritorious 
exhibits  staged  at  any  of  the  Island  shows  during  the  year  1999.  The 
programme  of  lectures  for  the  current  year  was  left  in  the  hands  of 
the  Secretary,  also  the  places  of  meeting.  A  sub-committee  was 
appointed  to  make  arrangements  for  printing  in  book  form  the  lectures 
given  at  the  meetings,  with  other  useful  information.  The  meeting 
was  brought  to  a  close  by  the  election  of  seven  new  members.  S.  H. 
Chester  Paxton  Society. — The  annual  social  gathering  of  this 
Society  was  held  on  Saturday  at  the  Grosvenor  Museum,  when  about 
150  members  met  under  the  presidency  of  Mr.  Robert  Wakefield.  Tea 
was  served  in  the  Art  Gallery,  after  which  an  entertainment  was  given 
in  the  lecture  theatre.  The  chief  item  of  interest  in  this  was  an  illus¬ 
trated  lecture  on  the  Transvaal  war,  by  Mr.  J.  D.  Siddall.  Mr.  Siddall’s 
lucid  descriptions  of  the  chief  places  of  interest  in  South  Africa,  aided 
by  an  excellent  set  of  lantern  slides,  enabled  the  audience  to  follow 
intelligently  the  principal  events  which  have  happened  in  the  Trans¬ 
vaal  during  the  past  year.  In  addition  to  this  a  musical  programme 
was  well  carried  out  by  Mrs.  Simon,  Miss  and  the  Masters  AVeighall, 
Mrs.  and  the  Masters  Miln,  Mr.  E.  AVard,  and  Mr.  T.  Brook  Edwards  as 
accompanist.  All  of  these  acquitted  themselves  most  creditably,  as  was 
very  evident  by  the  applause  from  the  audience,  and  the  rendering  of 
“  Soldiers  of  the  Queen  ”  and  “  Absent  Minded  Beggar  ”  resulted  in  a 
good  collection  for  the  war  fund.  At  the  conclusion  of  this  programme 
Mr.  N.  F.  Barnes  proposed,  and  Mr.  John  Wynne  seconded,  a  hearty 
vote  of  thanks  to  all  who  had  contributed  to  the  evening’s  enjoyment. 
Mt.  Siddall  in  responding  said  that  it  had  given  himself  and  the  others 
great  pleasure  to  entertain  the  members  of  the  Paxton  Society,  and 
hoped  that  the  Society  would  have  many  other  similar  gatherings  in 
the  Museum.  On  the  initiative  of  Mr.  Miln,  the  President  was  also 
thanked  for  his  services,  and  the  singing  of  the  National  Anthem 
brought  a  very  enjoyable  gathering  to  a  close. 
